Thief breaks into Uptown Paleta Bar

Brittany CostelloSeptember 09, 2019 10:16 PM

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Paleta Bar in Uptown Albuquerque was broken into early Monday.

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Preliminary investigation determined the north side window of the business was broken by rocks, according to State Police investigators. Money was stolen from the cash register and a receipt machine was damaged.

Surveillance video inside the store caught a glimpse of the burglar who was wearing a hat, gloves, and a mask. The video shows them going straight for the register.

“They didn’t take anything else,” said store manager, Claudia Collazo. “Not even the shirt, jerky, nothing. They were just in and out I guess.”

This is the first problem the Paleta Bar has had since opening the dessert spot in Uptown two years ago.

“It was like a mess everywhere, like the register was on the floor the printer, papers everywhere,” Collazo said.

The break-in is not keeping employees away from work. If anything, it’s only bringing the staff together.

“We get closer; we work more as a team,” said Collazo. “We see the customers come and support us even more. We've gotten a lot of customers today that were like 'We're here for you guys,'” Collazo said.

Collazo had a not so sweet message for that crook caught on camera.

“They're just cowards. You know, instead of working, or them trying to do something to better themselves they are just putting themselves down doing this to a local place,” she said.

Collazo said they replaced the register but that it will take some time to fix the broken window.

People are asked to contact State Police if they have any information about the break-in.